Injury bug bites Tropang 5G anew

The injury bug is not yet finished with TNT.

Big man Poy Erram is the latest casualty in an already limp and aching Tropang 5G roster after spraining his right ankle early in the third quarter of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals Game 2 against San Miguel Beer on Wednesday.

Erram is scheduled to undergo an X-ray on Thursday, hoping that the results will show no major issues that could sideline him for an extended period, especially with the best-of-seven series tied at 1-1.

The veteran center was wheeled out of the Smart Araneta Coliseum, still feeling the pain of his swollen ankle that cut short his night in the Tropang 5G’s 92-98 loss.

“I’ll just go home for now. I’ll take an X-ray tomorrow. It’s really swollen,” Erram said.

He went down writhing in pain with 9:04 left in the third quarter after an awkward landing while going for the ball against San Miguel’s goliath June Mar Fajardo underneath the basket.

Erram stayed on the floor for quite a while before being assisted by his teammates back to the bench. The 36-year-old did not return to action after that.

It was a dampener for Erram as he was already having an efficient outing of six points on 2-of-4 field goal shooting, three assists, two rebounds and three blocks in 15 minutes of play.

Erram’s injury compounded injury woes of the grand slam-seeking TNT, which already lost the Finals Most Valuable Players in its first two title conquests in Jayson Castro and Rey Nambatac.

The Tropang 5G just got RR Pogoy and Kelly Williams back after going down with hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively, which forced them to sit out a significant number of games in the semifinals against Rain or Shine.

With just a day of rest, Erram is doubtful for Game 3 today at the same venue in Cubao.

“I’m not sure (if available for Game 3),” he said.

“I couldn’t even put weight on it. It’s very painful.”